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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26238736">Three Numbers</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/elirwen/pseuds/elirwen'>elirwen</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Kinkalot 2020 [7]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Merlin (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Aftercare, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, BDSM, Blindfolds, Bottom Arthur Pendragon (Merlin), Dom Merlin (Merlin), Dom/sub, Established Relationship, Flogging, Fluff and Smut, M/M, Plot What Plot/Porn Without Plot, Rimming, Smut</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-09-01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-09-01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 12:15:47</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Explicit</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,359</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26238736</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/elirwen/pseuds/elirwen</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>“Now, Arthur, I made a list of ten possible activities we could do today. I will ask you to pick three numbers in the range from one to ten, and you will submit to whatever they translate to. You won’t know what the numbers mean until you get to experience whatever you chose,” Merlin says, tracing his fingers over Arthur’s cheek.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Merlin/Arthur Pendragon (Merlin)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Kinkalot 2020 [7]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1878322</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>129</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Kinkalot 2020</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Three Numbers</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Written for Kinkalot 2020 - bingo prompt: blindfold</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Now, Arthur, I made a list of ten possible activities we could do today. I will ask you to pick three numbers in the range from one to ten, and you will submit to whatever they translate to. You won’t know what the numbers mean until you get to experience whatever you chose,” Merlin says, tracing his fingers over Arthur’s cheek. “Do you have any questions before we start?”</p><p>Arthur shakes his head, feeling a bit of tension leave his body. He thought he’d be waiting forever, kneeling on the cushion, his hands behind his back, blindfold covering his eyes.</p><p>“Pick your numbers.”</p><p>“Three, seven, nine,” Arthur says without hesitation.</p><p>“Good choice,” Merlin says but, as promised, doesn’t elaborate. “Up,” he commands, tapping on Arthur’s arm to signal that he doesn’t have to keep his hands behind his back anymore.  </p><p>He leads Arthur across the room, standing him to face the familiar leather surface of the X-cross. He prompts Arthur to lift his arms and buckles his wrists to the stand, pressing a fleeting kiss to his shoulder blade once he’s done.</p><p>Arthur stews in restless anticipation as Merlin takes his time retrieving whatever equipment he’ll be using. Could it be a flogger? A paddle? He presses his face against the stand. Even the simple act of waiting is making his cock plump up.</p><p>He startles when he feels the first touch of leather against the skin of his backside. How Merlin manages to move so silently he’ll never know.</p><p>“We’ll do nine sets of seven strokes,” Merlin says, trailing the flogger up Arthur’s spine. “I need you to stay still. If you try to move away I will secure your legs to the stand too and start counting the sets from the beginning.”</p><p>Arthur spreads his legs a little wider, trying to root himself to the spot as much as possible. </p><p>Merlin drags the flogger in circles over his buttocks, down to his thighs, marking the territory that will get a share of the abuse. </p><p>“You don’t have to count,” Merlin says, withdrawing the flogger from Arthur’s skin. “Just concentrate on keeping still.”</p><p>He starts with gentle strokes, just warming the skin. Three sets pass with the intensity growing but still remaining quite mild. Arthur gasps when Merlin lands the first proper strike. Four milder follow and a sharp one again, forcing a whine past Arthur’s lips which he quickly stamps down, and one mild to finish the set.</p><p>“You can be as loud as you want today,” Merlin says, giving Arthur a break to collect his bearings, no doubt admiring the bright red of Arthur’s buttocks. </p><p>Next two sets are fine. Arthur feels confident he’s getting used to the level of pain, enjoying the steady discomfort of his burning skin. Except Merlin played him again, lulled him into a false sense of security. </p><p>He ups the intensity for the next set, seven sharp strokes in quick succession, lets Arthur gulp in a few frantic breaths of air and continues the same as before. Arthur is openly crying out with each strike, gripping the beams of the stand, using all his remaining willpower to stay rooted to the spot. </p><p>Arthur’s mind swims with relief in the few blissful moments of no impacts but that’s over soon and his skin is on fire once more.</p><p>“I can’t, I can’t,” he sobs when he reaches the next break, sweat and tears mixing on his cheeks, soaking into the fabric of the blindfold. “I’m sorry.”</p><p>He knows he won’t be able to hold still. He’ll flinch away in the next set. He doesn’t want to disappoint Merlin, but he has no more willpower left. </p><p>“That was the final one, darling,” Merlin murmurs into his ear. “You did great.”</p><p>He’s bracketing Arthur with his body but not pressing against him fully, giving him time to ride out the worst of the sting. </p><p>“So good for me,” he continues with the praise, caressing Arthur’s sides and pressing kisses to his shoulders and neck. “Perfect.”</p><p>He presses himself against Arthur fully, making him hiss at the contact, but Merlin’s warmth feels amazing against his sweat-covered and quickly cooling body so it overweighs the discomfort of the now dull throb of ache in his abused backside. </p><p>He unbuckles the restraints around Arthur’s wrists, guiding Arthur’s arms down instead of letting them fall. Arthur breathes through the unpleasant feeling of blood rushing to his limbs. </p><p>“Ready to move on?” Merlin asks. </p><p>Arthur nods, lets Merlin lead him to yet another unknown location, grateful for the support of Merlin’s body by his side as his legs feel a bit wobbly. </p><p>“I’d like you to get on the bench for me and relax,” Merlin says. “That’s all you have to do. I’ll take care of the rest.”</p><p>He helps him get settled, his front resting on the bench, his legs and arms supported on their own platforms. Merlin binds him in place with belts around his arms, body and calves. They’re not too tight, giving him a feeling of security rather than restriction.</p><p>“Look at you,” Merlin says, making Arthur tense as he settles his palms on Arthur’s buttcheeks. “What a perfect rosy colour.” </p><p>He leans down, his breath hot against Arthur’s back, his mouth pressing kisses down along his spine. For a moment he pulls away but then his hands are back on Arthur’s butt, pulling the cheeks apart and teasing the skin around Arthur’s pucker with his tongue. </p><p>Arthur whines, the residual ache from flogging mixing with the pleasure of Merlin’s tongue working him open. His cock, soft after the intense pain play session, fills out again but there is no way for him to get any friction so he can only moan and try to rock back against Merlin’s tongue. </p><p>He’s ready to start begging for more when Merlin suddenly pulls away. He can hear a sound of a zipper opening, of fabric rustling, a pop of a cap being open, a squelch of a generous dose of lube being pushed out of its tube. </p><p>He’s tense with anticipation but forces himself to take deep breaths, to relax because he’ll need that for what will follow.</p><p>Merlin pulls his cheeks apart once more. The head of his cock presses against Arthur’s opening, insistent, demanding access. Arthur fails to stop the instinct to squeeze the muscle shut, but it relaxes on his next exhale, letting Merlin in.</p><p>“So good for me today,” Merlin says, slightly breathless, as his cock slides all the way in. </p><p>He doesn’t waste any time, fucks Arthur open, rubs against the raw skin of his backside on each thrust. The sensations merge into a heady mix of pleasure-pain. Merlin’s cock dragging against his prostate makes precome dribble from Arthur’s cock in near-continuous stream. </p><p>He gasps and moans, struggling against the bindings in a blind effort to move his limbs in any way as the pleasure mounts, crests, shoves him over the edge, come spurting from his cock while Merlin continues his brutal pace. Arthur shudders through the aftershocks, his moans turning desperate as oversensitivity sets in.</p><p>Merlin takes pity on him, pulling out and jerking himself off for a short while filled with heavy breathing and slaps of skin on skin. When he peaks, Arthur can feel the droplets of his come landing on his ravaged backside, and he can only whine in protest when Merlin rubs the cum into his skin.</p><p>Afterwards, as his heart stops racing and his breathing settles, Arthur’s perception gains a sort of dreamlike quality. He feels a bit floaty as Merlin unbinds him, wipes him down with wet tissues, guides him to lie down and gently massages cream into the flogged areas. </p><p>Finally he climbs after him, pulling a blanket over them both, and removes Arthur’s blindfold.</p><p>The lights are dimmed, yet still they seem harsh to Arthur’s eyes, so he hides his face against Merlin’s body, hugs him tight. </p><p>He’s vaguely aware that Merlin is speaking but can only recognize how comforting it sounds. His mind is pleasantly blank. His body relaxed. </p><p>With his face still smushed against Merlin’s chest, he drifts off to sleep.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Comments and/or kudos are ♥.</p><p> </p><p>  <a href="http://elirwen.tumblr.com">My tumblr.</a></p></blockquote></div></div>
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